Neutron‐rich nuclei around A∼100 were populated as fission fragments produced by the238U(&agr;,f) fusion‐fission reaction. The deexcitation &ggr; rays were detected by Gammasphere in coincidence with the detection of both fission fragments by the Rochester 4&pgr; heavy‐ion detector array, CHICO. This technique allows Doppler‐shift corrections to be applied for the observed &ggr; rays on an event‐by‐event basis thus establishing the origin of &ggr; rays from either fission fragment. In addition, it allows observation of &ggr;‐ray transitions from states with short lifetimes and offers the opportunity to study nuclear species beyond the reach of the spontaneous fission process. With these advantages, one can extend the spectroscopic study to higher spins than those derived using the thick‐target technique, and to more neutron‐rich nuclei than those derived from spontaneous fissions. Among the new and interesting phenomena identified in this rapid shape‐changing region, the most distinct result is the evidence for a prolate‐to‐oblate shape transition occurring at116Pd, which may have important implications to our understanding of the shell structure for neutron‐rich nuclei. © 2003 American Institute of Physics